Taliban: Bin Laden plans Iraq strikes*

POSTED: 1641 GMT (0041 HKT), April 25, 2007

(CNN) -- A Taliban military commander says Osama bin Laden helped plan
the deadly suicide car bombing outside Bagram Air Base targeting a "very
important American official," apparently referring to Vice President
Dick Cheney.

Mullah Dadullah was interviewed by the Arab-language network al-Jazeera,
which identified the official as Cheney. The network aired the comments
on Wednesday, but did not say when the interview was done.

Dadullah said al Qaeda leader bin Laden also is involved in planning
attacks in Iraq. He offered no proof for his statements.

The vice president was more than a half mile away from the site of the
February attack in Afghanistan, which Afghan police said killed more
than 15 people and wounded 20.

Secret Service agents briefly moved Cheney, who was unharmed, to a bomb
shelter away from the base. He returned to his room when it was safe to
do so. Cheney said he was told the base's main gate had been attacked.

Referring to bin Laden, Dadullah told the Arab-language network
al-Jazeera, "Praise be to God he is still alive, and we have information
about him and praise be to God he orchestrates plans in both Iraq and
Afghanistan.

"You may remember the martyrdom mission in Bagram which targeted a very
important American official. No Afghan can reach the Bagram base.

"This operation was a result of his blessed planning. He's the one who
planned the details of this operation and guided us and the operation
was successful," Dadullah said.

Bagram is about 40 miles (60 kilometers) north of the capital, Kabul.

On March 1, Dadullah told Britain's Channel Four that his forces were
poised for a spring offensive against NATO-led coalition troops in
Afghanistan, and that he was maintaining a regular line of communication
with bin Laden.